10 ALS Symptoms
Symptom #3: Difficulty Breathing
People don’t often think about how to breathe, although the lungs are hard at work every day. The muscles in the chest help to expand the lungs, drawing in air that contains essential oxygen. When the same muscles cause the lungs to compress, the air is expelled and the cycle repeats.
However, when the muscles that control the expansion and compression of the lungs weaken, breathing becomes increasingly difficult. It may be hard for the patient to take a full breath, and the problem is likely to worsen as the condition develops. Severe cases can potentially require mechanical ventilation which may lead to a collapsed lung, so it is a potentially very dangerous symptom.
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